The right to buy a weapon simply means the right to be free. An armed citizenry, willing to fight for that freedom, is the foundation of civil freedom. Am I stating the obvious here?

TheBundo

02-07-2009, 6:11 AM

Yes

dominic

02-07-2009, 6:22 AM

Then why, if its obvious to us, does government, law enforcement, and lawmakers, who are supposed to be representatives of the people, tend to restrict rather than protect our right to buy a weapon?

Tarn_Helm

02-07-2009, 8:32 AM

Yes
+1:thumbsup:

Gator Monroe

02-07-2009, 8:57 AM

Then why, if its obvious to us, does government, law enforcement, and lawmakers, who are supposed to be representatives of the people, tend to restrict rather than protect our right to buy a weapon?

Because they are (in most cases with Democrats who are in power again) Anti's ...:chris:

kap

02-07-2009, 8:59 AM

Then why, if its obvious to us, does government, law enforcement, and lawmakers, who are supposed to be representatives of the people, tend to restrict rather than protect our right to buy a weapon?

Here are my takes ...

1. Because it is politically expedient.

People who favor gun control have money to help politicians get elected. Pro and Anti-gun platforms can help get a politician votes. Depending on where you are in the country it may be easy to pick up votes by going one way or the other. It also makes politicians look like they are strong on crime or just doing something to prevent violence when they pass gun control laws.

2. Because they do not believe that it should be a right.

Keep in mind your audience here at CalGuns. We all agree with you, but we are all here because we believe in the RKBA. Believe it or not, but there hoplophobic people out there who will do anything to diminish or eliminate this right. They do it in the name of public and private (suicide and accidents) safety, "the children", common sense, and my favorite is the ill-conceived notion that humans should evolve past their ability to commit violence and that by removing guns we will magically do so.

Then why, if its obvious to us, does government, law enforcement, and lawmakers, who are supposed to be representatives of the people, tend to restrict rather than protect our right to buy a weapon?

Ah.

The "why?" questions.

Philosophy.

A dead art.

And one seldom practised in the land of (post-)modern America--until it is almost too late.

You are asking a question about human nature.

Our Founding Fathers (http://www.amazon.com/Vindicating-Founders-Justice-Origins-America/dp/0847685179/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234026759&sr=1-3) studied human nature by studying philosophy, history, literature, and religion--and not just in English but in many languages, the most important of which are Classical Greek and Latin.

Here are some things that were concluded by the Founding Fathers (http://www.amazon.com/Vindicating-Founders-Justice-Origins-America/dp/0847685179/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234026759&sr=1-3) (and those influenced by their thought) about human nature that should help answer your questions:

“[W]e know that it is the nature of power to seek its own augmentation, and thus the loss of liberty is the necessary consequence of a loose or extravagant delegation of authority.”
~Founding Father (http://www.amazon.com/Vindicating-Founders-Justice-Origins-America/dp/0847685179/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234026759&sr=1-3) Robert Whitehill, speaking at the Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention on November 28, 1787 http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch14s29.html

"There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."
~James Madison (speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, 16 June 1788) Reference: Bartlett's Quotations (352)

“Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.”
~Thomas Jefferson

“[A]ll experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms [of governmental abuses and usurpations] to which they are accustomed.”
~Declaration of Independence http://www.usconstitution.net/declar.html#Intro
courtesy of philosopher John Locke http://history.wisc.edu/sommerville/367/Locke%20DecIndep.htm
via Thomas Jefferson

". . . the democratic government of the Americans is not a cheap government, as is sometimes asserted; and I have no hesitation in predicting that, if the people of the United States is ever involved in serious difficulties, its taxation will speedily be increased to the rate of that which prevails in the greater part of the aristocracies and the monarchies of Europe."
~Alexis De Tocqueville http://www.nalanda.nitc.ac.in/resources/english/etext-project/history/democracy1/chapter25.html

"Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude."
~Alexis De Tocqueville http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/De-Tocqueville

"Muhammad brought down from heaven and put into the Koran not religious doctrines only, but political maxims, criminal and civil laws, and scientific theories. The Gospels, on the other hand, deal only with the general relations between man and God and between man and man. Beyond that, they teach nothing and do not oblige people to believe anything. That alone, among a thousand reasons, is enough to show that Islam will not be able to hold its power long in ages of enlightenment and democracy, while Christianity is destined to reign in such ages, as in all others."
~Alexis De Tocqueville http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/De-Tocqueville

"The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money."
~Alexis De Tocqueville http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/De-Tocqueville

“Can the real Constitution be restored? Probably not. Too many Americans depend on government money under programs the Constitution doesn't authorize, and money talks with an eloquence Shakespeare could only envy. Ignorant people don't understand The Federalist Papers, but they understand government checks with their names on them.”
~Joseph Sobran, American newspaper columnist and author

"The power to tax is the power to destroy."
~paraphrase of Daniel Webster and Chief Justice John Marshall 1819, http://www.bartleby.com/73/1798.html

“Liberals have a new wish every time their latest wish is granted. Conservatives should make them spell out their principles and ideals. Instead of doing this, conservatives allow liberals to pursue incremental goals without revealing their ultimate destination. So, thanks to the negligence of their opponents, liberals control the terms of every debate by always demanding 'more' while never defining 'enough.' The predictable result is that they always get more, and it's never enough.”
~Joseph Sobran, American newspaper columnist and author

“Most Americans aren't the sort of citizens the Founding Fathers expected; they are contented serfs. Far from being active critics of government, they assume that its might makes it right.”
~Joseph Sobran, American newspaper columnist and author

“Tyranny seldom announces itself. ...In fact, a tyranny may exist without an individual tyrant. A whole government, even a democratically elected one, may be tyrannical.”
~Joseph Sobran, American newspaper columnist and author

“Politicians never accuse you of 'greed' for wanting other people's money --- only for wanting to keep your own money.”
~Joseph Sobran, American newspaper columnist and author

[Note: I absolutely and unequivocally abhor Joseph Sobran for his anti-Semitic remarks; the above quoted reflections are, however, in keeping with promoting true understanding of politicians.)

Finally, to paraphrase a recent contemporary: some people respect rigtheousness but everyone respects the righteously armed.
:beatdeadhorse5:

rrr70

02-07-2009, 9:09 AM

Because people are stupid.Antis tell them what they want to hear, even if it doesn't make any cense to somebody with half a brain. Like "reasonable gun control will help combat crime". Works very well in DC, LA, Oakland and Chicago, yes indeed.

Omega13device

02-07-2009, 9:12 AM

Then why, if its obvious to us, does government, law enforcement, and lawmakers, who are supposed to be representatives of the people, tend to restrict rather than protect our right to buy a weapon?
For the same reason we have the Bill of Rights.

What, you thought this was a new problem? Read some history books and you'll understand.

SimpleCountryActuary

02-07-2009, 8:47 PM

oThe right to buy a weapon simply means the right to be free. An armed citizenry, willing to fight for that freedom, is the foundation of civil freedom. Am I stating the obvious here?

Read Orwell's "Animal Farm". Their Bill of Rights was always being updated in the dead of night. "All animals are equal" was changed to "All animals are equal ... except some are more equal than others". Likewise, the individual right to keep and bear arms is held by four members of the SCOTUS to mean the GOVERNMENT'S right to keep and bear arms. They wrote that without intended irony.

N6ATF

02-07-2009, 11:56 PM

For the same reason we have the Bill of Rights.

What, you thought this was a new problem? Read some history books and you'll understand.

Yep, for 232 years, 7 months and 3 days, traitors levying war against the U.S. and its Constitution have rarely been prosecuted, let alone executed. Having millions of witnesses hasn't helped either.

bohoki

02-08-2009, 1:11 AM

sure does make you wonder if there is a right to buy a "weapon" if the import "sporting purposes" requirement is allowed to stand

Our nation was once thought to be great because it has provided more people with a higher standard of living than any other nation.

I say that it is great because it allows truth to remain an open question to be explored in whatever manner one might choose. No one man can be certain that his view is the right one. Every man must have some view of the notion of right and wrong.

Even the assertion that America is great because it is free is the assertion about the rightness of freedom.

Midian

02-08-2009, 7:37 AM

Power seeks weakness for the purpose of exploitation, and power seeks to inflict weakness in those that are strong, thus reducing the threat to their hegemony.

That is why the axiom remains that an armed society is a polite society. When everyone has the power to defend themselves against power (be it oppression, tyranny, whatever) those in power resent those able to oppose them, thus the stampede toward personal disarmament.

We are all born free. We surrender that for order and a certain amount of liberties granted us by those in power.

The next few years will decide what kind of country we as a whole are prepared to accept.

Kid Stanislaus

02-08-2009, 9:02 AM

Then why, if its obvious to us, does government, law enforcement, and lawmakers, who are supposed to be representatives of the people, tend to restrict rather than protect our right to buy a weapon?

Its the nature of government. Power never recedes voluntarily, it always seeks to expand and control.

dominic

02-08-2009, 9:09 AM

True, yet government is supposed to be just and good, right? Laws establish what is right and wrong, they reward good and punish evil. But what is good?

"Good" has different meanings to different people. If I were to shoot my mother-in-law at 800 yards, you might call me a good shot, but not a good person.

Tarn_Helm

02-08-2009, 2:39 PM

True, yet government is supposed to be just and good, right? Laws establish what is right and wrong, they reward good and punish evil. But what is good?

"Good" has different meanings to different people. If I were to shoot my mother-in-law at 800 yards, you might call me a good shot, but not a good person.

Begin reading at the beginning (check back with us in five years or so):

Dig in to these if you start burning out:
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p13/AimSmllMssSmll/THATEVERYMANBEARMED.jpghttp://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p13/AimSmllMssSmll/InSearchof2ndAm.jpg
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